two weeks before obama's speech. adding to that, senator obama voted against the bill that included the provision for new orleans. part of the bill that increased iraq war funding. democrats say it's ancient history five years ago. political analysts expect more tape from both sides on 33 days. positive day on wall street. the dow gained 12. s&p 500 finished ahead five. nasdaq was up 15. the struggling economy is blamed for another year of declining birthrate. cdc says there were fewer than 4 million in 2011 down 1% from the previous year. the lowest number since 1999. hispanic births were down 6%. 2% down for african-americans. followup on last night's story about the obama administration urging defense contractors not to issue legally required layoff notices despite impending cuts due to the budget impasse. known as the sequestration. mike emanuel has the update. >> by law they're required to issue layoff notices to employees they may need to cut if the half trillion in automatic cuts known as sequestration take ef